The Celtics fell at home to the undermanned Lakers on Thursday, resulting in some of Boston’s starters being benched in the midst of a bad stretch in the second half. According to MassLive.com’s Brian Robb, center Kristaps Porzingis had no issues with the decision.
“We deserved it,” Porzingis said. “Of course we were pissed off. We’re pissed off at ourselves and I completely understood. I never want to come out of the game, but I completely understood we had to change something.”
All-Star guard Jaylen Brown, who was also benched in the second half, shared similar sentiments after Boston fell to an L.A. team that was playing without LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
“I haven’t been in that position too often, so it kind of is what it is,” Brown said. “We weren’t playing our best, I wasn’t playing my best, so nothing I can really say there. Every time I step on the court, I try to add to winning. Tonight, I tried to make sure I was being unselfish, hitting the guys in stride, sharing the ball. But I was a little lackadaisical, it wasn’t my best game. But I’ll put it behind me and get ready for the next one.”
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson accepted an invitation to participate in the Three-Point Contest during All-Star Weekend, according to TNT and Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Brunson has a shot to be the first Knicks player to ever win the event.
- The Knicks have leaned on Miles McBride more since trading away Immanuel Quickley, and he’s rewarding their faith in him with improved offensive play. Since Dec. 30, McBride is averaging 8.5 points while shooting 46.6% from three — a vast improvement over the 28.2% clip he connected at during the first two years of his career. “Honestly, it’s all about my belief. I feel like I was taking the same shots, and now I’m just getting a little bit more of an opportunity,” McBride said, per The New York Post’s Peter Botte. “The organization and the coaching staff continued to believe in me, and it was just about me consistently working on my shot. I put in the work and it’s showing.“
- Ben Simmons returned for the Nets on Monday, recording 10 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in his first game since early November. However, he was ruled out the following game against Phoenix on Wednesday with a knee contusion. He’s expected to play on Saturday against the Sixers and is listed as probable on the injury report, according to SNY’s Ian Begley (Twitter link). C.J. Holmes of New York Daily News tweets Simmons was a partial participant at practice on Friday and was set to receive treatments that night and Saturday morning.
Is Ben available for trade? Simmons for Wiggs? Both could use change of scenery??
Simmons is damaged goods. No one should pay him more than the vet minimum. That’s the production you will get from him going forward.
As a Warriors fan, Wiggins has been playing really well the past few games. I dont see why I would ever trade the second best player of the 2022 championship run for an injured Ben Simmons.
Send Ben to Hornets. He doesn’t care about winning and neither does Charlotte. Match made for them both.
If neither he nor Ben cares about winning, then what’s the point of making a trade?
McBride’s play hasn’t really been a suprise. Similar to IQ who was a year ahead of him, he came in raw in PG skills, but has worked on them. At this point, he is more than ready for the minutes he’s getting. He only lost his rotation slot last year due to the Hart trade, not his play. I hope the NYK don’t do something similar this season, where they make a deadline trade that has McBride on the outside looking in.
“McBride’s play hasn’t really been a suprise.”
He showed flashes in his first two years in the league, but I don’t know how anyone could say that his play this year isn’t a surprise. He shot .337/.282/.667 in his first two years. He’s now shooting .456/.456/.800 and has nearly doubled his points per 36 minutes this year. He’s taken a huge leap forward and made it so the Knicks could feel comfortable trading away IQ. That is a major surprise from a third string PG who previously had horrible numbers.
Well, I’m not, and any posting I’ve done on McBride since he was drafted I believe would indicate that I wouldn’t be. Not that I was necessarily right back then, as I believe I predicted eventual stardom for him, which might have been too optimistic. We’ll see.
You’re citing his overall stats of his first two seasons with the NYK, which, aside from the 6 weeks he was in the rotation last year, reflect sporadic minutes by a guy who wasn’t quite ready to play. When that 6 weeks is looked at seperately, together with his pre-NBA career and his G-league starting experience, as well as his work ethic and the words of the coaching staff, one might get a different picture.
McBride’s pre-NBA basketball background was somewhat compromised by being a HS football star and the pandemic. Some additional patience was always going to be required. College is different, but he was a 40% 3 pt shooter and 80% FT shooter in his second and final year in college, so its not like he had no background as a quality shooter.
Joe is a terrible coach and has even a worse personality! If the Celtics want to win Championships they must replace Joe! This will be a wasted season because of coaching!
Who would you replace him with?
Good point! No one wants a complaint without a solution.
Like McBride. He’s more a traditional PG. Has a big reach. Plays bigger than 6’ 2”. Solid defender. Would like to see him more aggressive. Get his playmaking going, ast up. He’s playing well right now. Achiuwa has also stepped up. All hands on deck, thing.
I’d still like to see Knicks pick up another Center at TD. Unless it’s Murray. I don’t see a big trade. Would love to get Wiseman.
Mitch Robinson, Fournier, two #1 picks,
a 2nd rd pick to >>>> Da Bulls
DeM DeR, Drummond to >> Knicks
Celtic’s Coach Joe made a good move, benching KP & Brown for a bit to show his frustration show no one is immune & to look for a spark. The Laker loss went downhill right at the start as KP and Jaylen tried these lackadaisical, risky, bounce-pass, pocket passes to each other which immediately got gobbled up by the excited and ready to play Laker subs. We had what, 7 or 9 turnovers in the first quarter. WTH? Let’s protect the ball & not give games away. Go Celtics!